Performing Memory in Latin America

The murals in the Borda hospital have evolved I think from an age-old phenomenon that people often forget about--something that is often debated even now, and that is the power of art. Not even just art though as in visual arts, but also with performing arts or the power of music like the piano of Martín Perino from the article that onlookers said "relaxes your body, brings you to another world, and makes you forget all your problems." Specifically the murals in El Borda stem from this movement called desmanicmialización, which "seeks to restore dignity and respect to the mentally ill and to de-medicalize and de-stigmatize treatment for them." The walls are there to be painted on for the people inside them to be able to express themselves and, while finding healing for themselves, to also be able to show the world that they are not just their diagnosis and that they are capable of creating beautiful or at the very least, thought-provoking work. I think the radio, La...

"Latinoamérica" is a song by Calle 13 that, like Bomfim says, is more or less an attempt on the part of Calle 13 to connect Puerto Ricans to the rest of Latin America. However, while I know that that is the meaning that is meant by the artist and the meaning that we draw from it because of the artists' origin and previous works and well-known sociopolitical views, I think that for me the song is, even much more than just for Puerto Rico, an anthem for all of Latin America to rally behind. It draws on details and memories of activities and traditions that are universally relatable for nearly all Latin Americans, and even also upon the New Song movement type of music that was common to much of Latin America--all to create a beautiful, powerful, unifying, empowering song para todos . Another reason I think that it is so firmly a group oriented song is because of the collaboration of all the different artists of different nationalities that are participating, whether it be by...

Rebel Diaz came last Friday and kind of blew away my expectations with their workshop. Well, I suppose I didn't really have expectations per se, but it's just that they were so engaging and articulate, passionate and informed, and at the same time, just very chill or easygoing, which I appreciated in a setting like that. It was a bit lecture-esque in format which surprised me, but I think that they do the best they can to make it as interactive as it can be, like with the displacement exercise that they did with us. As kind of a side note too, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of talking that G1 got to do due to my previous sort of pondering about him and his voice since RodStarz often seemed to be the one articulating their motivations and beliefs in the interviews I found in my research about the group. I also was glad to hear about a bit about their music making process since that was another one of my inquiries, and I think that that answer also helped me to get a fe...